TELECOMMUNICATIONS : ECTA STUDY DENOUNCES COMPETITION DEFICIT IN EU.

In a report on the state of competition on the European telecoms market, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), which represents new entrants, warns against annual losses for consumers and businesses due to the lack of effective competition with the former monopolies.

These losses amount to 25 billion a year, states a study by the consulting firm Analysys Mason, published by ECTA, on 3 March. The next day, the heads of the alternative operators, such as AFORST, VAT, Vip Mobile (but also British Telecom, an ECTA member), met the new Digital Agenda Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, in Brussels. ECTA is already getting ready for battle. The association's Chairman, Hubertus von Roenne, announced that he planned "to ask the Commission and national regulators to investigate competition problems and to review the possibility of using the new power of functional separation of dominant firms if necessary" (see box).

The report states that in the six countries studied - Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain - former monopolies continue to dominate the market or are even increasing their market shares. They control 60-70% of the retail market for fixed telephony, while broadband and mobile market...

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